It turned Lily's stomach with a speed that was pretty spectacular when she thought about it. One minute she fine, the next minute, she caught the scent of chocolate and she almost didn't get to the sink quick enough to save making a really awful mess.
When she was done, she leaned against the counter, dragging in a deep breath before she managed a watery smile in her friend's direction.
It's not generally the reaction one hopes for when experimenting in the kitchen, and Lisey turns a doubtful eye towards the fruits of her labor. "Morning, Lil. That a hint I should go back to the drawing board?" Sure, maybe it's not exactly the Wonka factory at the moment, but she doesn't think it's too bad.
"Oh, honey, it's not yet. I'm just sort of delicate this morning," says Lily, pushing her blond curls back from her face and rubbing her cheek with her knuckles.
"There's some ginger tea in the cupboard. If you wouldn't mind, hon."
"Not at all," Lisey replies, and a few minutes later there are a pair of steaming mugs on the countertop. She's cleared some of the chocolate detritus away; it's a project that will keep, and she doesn't want to push poor Lily's stomach past the breaking point again. "Hanging in there?" she asks as she settles down with her mug.
Wendy was not exactly certain if adults could get into trouble for making a mess of things. While she did prefer to be tidy rather than not, she had been found guilty of making a habit of making a mess more than she cared to admit to.
Going out of the way to look like she was doing something else while stealing glances at the woman working, Wendy Darling finally gave into her curiosity. "What are you doing?"
When it comes right down to it, Lisey can't very well blame anybody for staring. It's quite a process, and the mess it's made extensive enough to make anyone want to ask. She pushes the hair back from her forehead and smiles at the girl. "Making chocolate. Or trying, anyway, we'll see how it comes out in the end."
"They don't, not very often, and to tell you the truth I think I've figured out why," Lisey says with a bit of a wry grin as she begins to collect some of the dishes for washing. "But we have all the equipment, and it seems wrong to just let it sit there. It's not quite ready to mold yet, but..." She finds a clean teaspoon and dips it in, passing it to the girl. God knows that if there's anyone qualified to taste test, it's a teenage girl.
"Smells good," Eden observes, a hint of wonder in her tone. What it smells like is chocolate or something very like, and there's little enough of that around these days. Wandering past to get to the coffee, she offers up a smile to the woman, whose name she figures she ought to know after months of seeing her in the kitchen, but she's never been much good at that. Not as good as she should be. "What're you making?"
Lisey smiles, cleaning her hands off on a kitchen towel before going to stir the bowl she's got warming over a double boiler. "Chocolate - well, or that's the plan, anyway. Haven't figured out yet exactly what I'm going to do with it, but I figure that can wait until I see if it's worked or not." She's found some molds with the equipment, just simple things, but they seem like a good option for a trial run. The thing she's not sure about is if she's tempered the chocolate so it'll set up correctly, but hell, can't hurt to give it a shot.
"I thought that's what it smelled like," Eden says, cheerful as she bustles about in pursuit of milk and sugar. "Good luck with it. I can barely manage the basics, so anyone who can do anything even remotely more complex has my respect. Although I guess that goes, too, for anyone who makes meals around here." It can't be an easy thing, cooking for the number of people always passing through this place.
"Oh, honey, outside of banana bread I could barely feed myself, when I arrived." Lisey got over the embarrassment of not being able to cook a long time ago, and it hasn't bothered her since. She still doesn't think of herself as much of a chef, but she can put food on the table, which in the Compound is mostly what counts. "But there was nothing but time here to learn, so... I did. Same principle as what's driving this experiment, really." She gestures towards the chocolate-making equipment that's spread everywhere.
"Hey, Lisey," Jen greets, smiling at her fellow kitchen crew member. She recognizes a couple of the things Lisey has out, just from seeing them in a cupboard, but she doesn't actually know what they're for. "What are you making?"
"Hey, Jen," Lisey says with a smile as she begins to pile various bowls and utensils in the sink. "Chocolate. Or trying, at least. I figured there's all this equipment just sitting here - it'd be a shame to let it go to waste."
"Oh, cool," Jen replies. "I didn't realize we had stuff to make chocolate. I mean, I'd seen some of that stuff before but I didn't realize what it was for." She thinks it would be pretty cool if Priestly could make chocolate chip pancakes sometime, but realizes actual chocolate chips might be a little ambitious. "How's it going?"
"Slowly," Lisey says, a little sheepishly. There have been times she regretted taking the experiment up altogether, but her progress has kept creeping steadily forward, just enough so that she couldn't quite give it up. "But it is coming along. We'll never be able to make a lot, but some here and there won't be out of the question. Lucky someone left all this behind."
Glen, who's habit it was to come in to breakfast with Lisey before his show, and stop in afterward for coffee or lunch as his fancy took him, had seen some of Lisey's first attempts. For the most part he merely wished her luck and tried to get a promise that when she did get it right, he would be the first to know. Today was hardly different as he ambled in. He went immediately to the coffee maker, took out the pot, and looked at it sourly.
"Empty. Naturally. But that's is the way of these things isn't it, Lisey? Whole pots will go to waste when made and no one wants them, but when you do," he sighed theatrically and replace the pot on the hotplate, "There's nothing for it. Though I suppose I could always make some myself. A novel idea in fact. How is your little experiment going?" he asked without missing a beat as he followed through with his own promise.
"Better today," Lisey says, throwing a smile Glen's way. He'd been there for her first miserable attempts, so if anyone can see how far she's come, it's him. "It seems mostly edible - so far, at least." She nods towards the coffeepot; she'd offer to make a pot herself, but her hands are absolutely covered. "Spare a cup for me, if you make a pot?"
"Think I just might be able to do that, Lisey. But only for you. If I see that miserable husband of your's, I'm going to take the biggest cup I can find and fill it to the top!"
For a minute or so he puttered, reintroduced himself to the coffeepot and all of its fixings, and after a moment or two the machine began to gurgle and sputter. Glen turned back around and leaned against the counter while steam drifted up behind him. "It smells good at any rate. All I can smell aside from coffee of course is cocoa, cocoa, and more cocoa."
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When she was done, she leaned against the counter, dragging in a deep breath before she managed a watery smile in her friend's direction.
"Morning, Lis."
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She puts the kettle on, at any rate. "Tea?"
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"There's some ginger tea in the cupboard. If you wouldn't mind, hon."
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Going out of the way to look like she was doing something else while stealing glances at the woman working, Wendy Darling finally gave into her curiosity. "What are you doing?"
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"Are you now? I thought that was something people didn't do here."
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"Empty. Naturally. But that's is the way of these things isn't it, Lisey? Whole pots will go to waste when made and no one wants them, but when you do," he sighed theatrically and replace the pot on the hotplate, "There's nothing for it. Though I suppose I could always make some myself. A novel idea in fact. How is your little experiment going?" he asked without missing a beat as he followed through with his own promise.
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For a minute or so he puttered, reintroduced himself to the coffeepot and all of its fixings, and after a moment or two the machine began to gurgle and sputter. Glen turned back around and leaned against the counter while steam drifted up behind him. "It smells good at any rate. All I can smell aside from coffee of course is cocoa, cocoa, and more cocoa."
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